Method and system for gesture-based cross channel commerce and marketing

ABSTRACT

A computing device (e.g., a server) coupled to a digital signage device may receive characteristic information associated with a visitor of the digital signage device. The received characteristic information may be analyzed, and based on a result of the analysis, advertisement attributes may be determined. The computing device may select, based on the determined advertisement attributes, a particular advertisement from a plurality of advertisement bids. The computing device may cause display of the selected particular advertisement on the digital signage device for the visitor. The characteristic information may be generated by the digital signage device utilizing a video analytics. The computing device may receive particular gesture information associated with a mobile device of the visitor who responds to the displayed particular advertisement. The computing device may cause a cloud computing platform to push content associated with the particular advertisement into the mobile device for the visitor to place an order.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to advertisements usingdigital signage. More specifically, certain embodiments of thedisclosure relate to a method and system for gesture-based cross channelcommerce and marketing.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Existing methods and systems for commerce and marketing using digitalsignage or signs may be ineffective.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with the present disclosure as set forth inthe remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A system and/or method for gesture-based cross channel commerce andmarketing, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example digital signage systemthat is operable to provide gesture-based cross channel commerce andmarketing, in accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing device thatis operable to provide gesture-based cross channel commerce andmarketing, in accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating example A/B testing andmultivariate testing, in accordance with an example embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for gesture-basedadvertisement bidding and display, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for gesture-basedcontent transfer or transaction, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for gesture-basedtesting on advertisement, in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

As utilized herein the terms “circuit” and “circuitry” refer to physicalelectronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/or firmware(“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware,and/or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As utilized herein,“and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joined by“and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of thethree-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, “x, y, and/orz” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y),(x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term “exemplary”means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. Asutilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example” set off lists ofone or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. Asutilized herein, a device/module/circuitry/etc. is “operable” to performa function whenever the device/module/circuitry/etc. comprises thenecessary hardware and code (if any is necessary) to perform thefunction, regardless of whether performance of the function is disabled,or not enabled, by some user-configurable setting.

Certain embodiments of the disclosure can be found in a method andsystem for gesture-based cross channel commerce and marketing. Invarious embodiments of the disclosure, a computing device operativelycoupled to a digital signage device may be operable to receive, from thedigital signage device, characteristic information associated with avisitor of the digital signage device. The received characteristicinformation may be analyzed by the computing device, and based on aresult of the analysis of the characteristic information, advertisementattributes may be determined. The computing device may be operable toselect, based on the determined advertisement attributes, a particularadvertisement from among a plurality of advertisement bids. Thecomputing device may then be operable to cause display of the selectedparticular advertisement on the digital signage device for the visitor.In this regard, the characteristic information associated with thevisitor may comprise, for example, one or more of the following:demographic information of the visitor, behavioral information of thevisitor, and location information of the visitor in a field-of-viewcaptured by the digital signage device. The characteristic informationmay be generated by the digital signage device utilizing, for example, avideo analytics on video images captured by the digital signage device.

In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the computing device may beoperable to receive, from the digital signage device, particular gestureinformation associated with a mobile device of the visitor who mayrespond to the displayed particular advertisement. The computing devicemay be operable to communicate, based on the received particular gestureinformation, to a cloud computing platform for causing the cloudcomputing platform to obtain location information and particular profileinformation associated with the mobile device, from the mobile device.Based on the obtained location information and the particular profileinformation, the cloud computing platform may be operable to pushcontent associated with the displayed particular advertisement into themobile device for the visitor to place an order on the mobile device orfor the mobile device to automatically complete a transaction utilizinga particular application running on the mobile device. In this regard,the gesture information associated with the mobile device may begenerated by the digital signage device utilizing a video analytics onvideo images captured by the digital signage device. The gestureinformation associated with the mobile device may comprise, for example,information on one or more motion-based gestures inputted to the mobiledevice. In such instances, the mobile device may detect the one or moremotion-based gestures utilizing an accelerometer in the mobile device,and communicate, based on the detecting of the one or more motion-basedgestures, the location information and the particular profileinformation to the cloud computing platform, utilizing the particularapplication running on the mobile device.

In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the computing device may beoperable to perform testing which may comprise (1) receiving, from thedigital signage device, action information associated with the visitorwho views a first version of the displayed particular advertisement, (2)analyzing statistically the received action information associated withthe first version of the particular advertisement and other receivedaction information associated with the first version as well asassociated with one or more other versions of the particularadvertisement, and (3) determining, based on a result of the analysis ofthe action information, a particular version among the first version andthe one or more other versions for display on the digital signage devicewhen the particular advertisement may be later scheduled to display. Inthis regard, the action information which is statistically analyzed maycomprise one or more of audience impression, viewing time, viewer facialgesture and viewer interaction. The action information may be generatedby the digital signage device utilizing one or both of (1) a videoanalytics on video images captured by the digital signage device and (2)a tracking on sensor information captured by the digital signage device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example digital signage systemthat is operable to provide gesture-based cross channel commerce andmarketing, in accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a digital signage system 100. Thesystem 100 may comprise a digital signage device 104, a computing device102, a CMS/player 106 and a communication network 130, for example. Thedigital signage device 104 may comprise an integrated camera and sensormodule 114. The communication network 130 may comprise a cloud computingplatform 131. There is also shown, in FIG. 1, a visitor 110 of thedigital signage device 104 and a mobile device 108 of the visitor 110.The mobile device 108 may comprise, for example, an accelerometer 119and a particular application 118 running on the mobile device 108.

The digital signage device 104 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to show programmed contentsuch as, for example, advertisements. The digital signage device 104 maybe in a form of LCD, LED or plasma displays, and may be placed in bothpublic and private environments, including retail store locations. Thedigital signage device 104 may be controlled by a computing device(e.g., a server) such as the computing device 102. The screen of thedigital signage device 104 may be split into multiple zones to displaymultiple contents. In an example embodiment of the disclosure, themultiple zones may allow using the digital signage device 104 formultivariate testing in multi-zone layout.

The camera and sensor module 114 may be integrated or embedded in thedigital signage device 104. The camera and sensor module 114 may beoperable to capture and detect the presence of individuals such as thevisitor 110 of the digital signage device 104. In an example embodimentof the disclosure, the camera and sensor module 114 may be operable toanalyze captured video images utilizing video analytics, and trackcaptured sensor information utilizing sensor tracking.

The computing device 102 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to process information ordata received from the digital signage device 104. For example, thecomputing device 102 (e.g., a server) may process information receivedfrom the camera and sensor module 114 in the digital signage device 104.In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the computing device 102 maybe operable to perform analysis on the received information or data.Based on a result of the analysis, the computing device 102 may beoperable to provide control of content display on the digital signagedevice through the CMS/player 106, for example. The computing device 102may be operable to communicate the cloud computing platform 130 forpushing related content to the mobile device 108, for example. Thecomputing device 102 may be operable to perform, utilizing theinformation or data received from the camera and sensor module 114 inthe digital signage device 104, testing (e.g., A/B testing, multivariatetesting) on various versions of certain content such as a particularadvertisement displayed on the digital signage device 104, for example.

The content management server (CMS)/player 106 may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to store,manage and schedule content for display on the digital signage device104. In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the CMS/player 106 maybe operable to communicate or interface with the computing device 102for determining content such as a particular advertisement to display orplay.

The communication network 130 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, devices and/or code that may be operable to provide data andvoice communication services to various devices and/or entities by usingvarious wireless and/or wired communication technologies. Thecommunication network 130 may comprise, for example, the Internet, acellular network and/or other multimedia network. In an exampleembodiment of the disclosure, the communication network 130 may beoperable to provide communications among the computing device 102 andthe mobile device 108. The communication network 103 may provide cloudcomputing platform services such as the cloud computing platform 131.

The mobile device 108 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to communicate signals wirelesslyacross the communication network 130. The mobile device 108 may beoperable to process data or signals. In this regard, the mobile device108 may comprise a camera (not shown), one or more various sensors suchas the accelerometer 119 and one or more applications such as theparticular application 118 running on the mobile device 108. The mobiledevice 108 may comprise, for example, a smart phone, a mobile phone, atablet and/or other similar type of computing device.

In operation, the visitor 110 may visit the digital signage device 104and may trigger the camera and sensor module 114 in the digital signagedevice 104 to capture or collect relevant information associated withthe visitor 110. In this regard, the camera and sensor module 114 may beoperable to perform analysis on captured video images utilizing a videoanalytics, and generate characteristic information associated with thevisitor 110 for transmitting to the computing device 102. The computingdevice 102, which may be operatively coupled to the digital signagedevice 104, may be operable to receive, from the camera and sensormodule 114, the characteristic information associated with the visitor110. The received characteristic information may be analyzed by thecomputing device 102, and based on a result of the analysis of thecharacteristic information, advertisement attributes may be determined.The determined advertisement attributes may be used to generate bidrequirements for soliciting advertisement bids, for example, in realtime. The computing device 102 may be operable to select, based on thedetermined advertisement attributes, a particular advertisement fromamong a plurality of advertisement bids. In this regard, for example,the selected particular advertisement may be a winning bid among theconsidered plurality of advertisement bids. The computing device 102 maythen be operable to cause display of the selected particularadvertisement on the digital signage device 104 for the visitor 110 toview and/or interact. In this regard, for example, the computing device102 may be operable to communicate the selected particular advertisementto the CMS/player 106 for scheduling a display of the selectedparticular advertisement on the digital signage device 104.

The characteristic information associated with the visitor 110 maycomprise, for example, one or more of the following: demographicinformation of the visitor 110, behavioral information of the visitor110, and location information of the visitor 10 in a field-of-viewcaptured by the camera and sensor module 114 in the digital signagedevice 104. In this regard, the demographic information may comprise,for example, age, gender, ethnicity, etc. The behavioral information maycomprise, for example, worn/carried items, facial signatures, visualcues, etc.

In response to viewing the particular advertisement displayed on thedigital signage device 104, the visitor 110 may input one or moregestures 112 to the mobile device 108. For example, the gesture(s) 112may comprise one or more motion-based gestures (e.g., waving the mobiledevice 108) inputted to the mobile device 108, and the mobile device 108may detect the motion-based gesture(s) utilizing the accelerometer 119.The mobile device 108 may be operable to communicate, based on thedetecting of the one or more motion-based gestures, location informationand particular profile information associated with the mobile device 108to the cloud computing platform 131, utilizing the particularapplication 118 running on the mobile device 108. In the mean time, thecamera and sensor module 114 may be operable to capture and detect thegesture(s) 112 inputted to the mobile device 108 and utilizing the videoanalytics on captured video images to generate particular gestureinformation (e.g., information on the motion-based gesture(s))associated with the mobile device 108. The computing device 102 may beoperable to receive, from the camera and sensor module 114, theparticular gesture information associated with a mobile device 108. Thecomputing device 102 may be operable to communicate, based on thereceived particular gesture information, to the cloud computing platform131 for causing the cloud computing platform 131 to obtain the locationinformation and the particular profile information associated with themobile device 108, from the mobile device 108.

Based on the obtained location information and the particular profileinformation, the cloud computing platform 131 may be operable to pushcontent associated with the displayed particular advertisement into themobile device 108 for the visitor 110 to either place an order on themobile device 108 or for the mobile device 108 to automatically completea transaction utilizing the particular application 118 running on themobile device 108. In this regard, for example, the mobile device 108may be configured so that the particular profile information comprises aset-up to allow the mobile device 108 to automatically complete thetransaction (e.g., purchase of an item advertised on the digital signagedevice 104) based on just “one gesture” inputted to the mobile device108 (e.g., waving the mobile device 108) in front of the digital signagedevice 104.

In instances when the visitor 110 is in front of the digital signagedevice 104 which is displaying a first version of the particularadvertisement, the camera and sensor module 114 may be operable tocapture and detect one or more actions of the visitor 110. The cameraand sensor module 114 may be operable to generate, based on thecaptured/detected action(s), action information associated with thevisitor 110, utilizing one or both of (1) a video analytics on videoimages captured by the camera and sensor module 114 and (2) a trackingon sensor information captured by the camera and sensor module 114. Thecomputing device 102 may be operable to perform testing (e.g., A/Btesting, multivariate testing) which may comprise (1) receiving, fromthe camera and sensor module 114, the action information associated withthe visitor 110 who views the first version of the displayed particularadvertisement, (2) analyzing statistically the received actioninformation associated with the first version of the particularadvertisement and other received action information associated with thefirst version as well as associated with one or more other versions ofthe particular advertisement, and (3) determining, based on a result ofthe analysis of the action information, a particular version among thefirst version and the one or more other versions for display on thedigital signage device 104 when the particular advertisement may belater scheduled to display.

In this regard, the action information which is statistically analyzedmay comprise, for example, one or more of audience impression, viewingtime, viewer facial gesture (or expression) and viewer interaction. Forexample, the viewer interaction may comprise conversion related actionssuch as scanning a barcode (e.g., a QR code) using the mobile device108, downloading a coupon using the mobile device 108, placing an orderusing the mobile device 108, etc. For example, the camera and sensormodule 114 may track the barcode-scanning and/or the coupon-downloadingutilizing a pixel tracking. Example A/B testing and multivariate testingare further described below with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing device thatis operable to provide gesture-based cross channel commerce andmarketing, in accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown the computing device 102 asdescribed with respect to FIG. 1, for example. The computing device 102(e.g., a server) may comprise, for example, an ad display module 202, ananalysis module 206, a content transfer module 214, a testing module212, a processor 208 and a memory 210. The ad display module 202 maycomprise, for example, an ad exchange module 203 and a bidding engine204.

The processor 208 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to manage and/or control operations ofvarious components and/or modules in the computing device 102. Theprocessor 208 may utilize an operating system (OS) that enables theexecution of various applications.

The memory 210 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to store information such as executableinstructions and/or data that may be utilized by the processor 208, thead display module 202, the analysis module 206, the content transfermodule 214, the testing module 212 and/or other modules or components inthe computing device 102. The memory 210 may comprise RAM, ROM, lowlatency nonvolatile memory such as flash memory and/or other suitableelectronic data storage.

The ad display module 202 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to perform advertisementbidding and display functions for the computing device 102. For example,the ad display module 202 may be operable to facilitate bidding, sellingand purchasing on online advertisement inventory, utilizing the adexchange module 203. The ad display module 202 may be operable to, inreal time, process bidding information and coordinate information flowto various subsystems or modules including the ad exchange module 203, adigital signal processor (DSP), etc., utilizing the bidding engine 204,for example. In this regard, the bidding engine 204 may perform, forexample in real time, conducting auction among a plurality ofadvertisement bids from one or more advertisers and determining a winingadvertisement for display on the digital signage device 104.

The analysis module 206 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to perform analysisfunctions for the computing device 102. For example, the analysis module206 may be operable to receive certain information or data received fromthe camera and sensor module 114 in the digital signage device 104, andperform analysis on the received information or data for providingcontrol actions to the digital signage device 104.

The content transfer module 214 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate with thecloud computing platform 131 to initiate a push or transfer of contentassociated with a particular advertisement (displayed on the digitalsignage device 104) into a mobile device such as the mobile device 108,by the cloud computing platform 131.

The testing module 212 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to perform testing functionsfor the computing device 102. In an example embodiment of thedisclosure, the testing module 212 may be operable to perform testing onadvertisements displayed on the digital signage device 104 for thecomputing device 102. in this regard, the testing may comprise, forexample, an A/B testing or a multivariate testing.

In operation, the ad display module 202 in the computing device 102 maybe operable to receive, from the camera and sensor module 114 in thedigital signage device 104, characteristic information associated withthe visitor 110 of the digital signage device 104. The receivedcharacteristic information may be analyzed by the analysis module 206 inthe computing device 102, and based on a result of the analysis of thecharacteristic information, advertisement attributes may be determinedby the ad display module 202. The ad display module 202 may be operableto select, based on the determined advertisement attributes, aparticular advertisement from among a plurality of advertisement bids.The ad display module 202 may then be operable to cause display of theselected particular advertisement on the digital signage device 104 forthe visitor 110.

The content transfer module 214 in the computing device 102 may beoperable to receive, from the camera and sensor module 114 in thedigital signage device 104, particular gesture information associatedwith a mobile device such as the mobile device 108 of the visitor 110who may respond to the displayed particular advertisement. The contenttransfer module 214 may be operable to communicate, based on thereceived particular gesture information, to a cloud computing platformsuch as the cloud computing platform 131 for causing the cloud computingplatform 131 to obtain location information and particular profileinformation associated with the mobile device 108, from the mobiledevice 108. Based on the obtained location information and theparticular profile information, the cloud computing platform 131 may beoperable to push content associated with the displayed particularadvertisement into the mobile device 108 for the visitor 110 to place anorder on the mobile device 108 or for the mobile device 108 toautomatically complete a transaction utilizing a particular applicationsuch as the application 118 running on the mobile device 108.

The computing device 102 may be operable to perform testing, utilizingthe testing module 212, on the particular advertisement displayed on thedigital signage device 104. In this regard, the testing module 212 maybe operable to receive, from the camera and sensor module 114 in thedigital signage device 104, action information associated with thevisitor 110 who views a first version of the displayed particularadvertisement. The analysis module 206 in the computing device 102 maybe operable to analyze statistically the received action informationassociated with the first version of the particular advertisement andother received action information associated with the first version aswell as associated with one or more other versions of the particularadvertisement. The testing module 212 may then be operable to determine,based on a result of the analysis of the action information, aparticular version among the first version and the one or more otherversions for display on the digital signage device 104 when theparticular advertisement may be later scheduled to display.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating example A/B testing andmultivariate testing, in accordance with an example embodiment of thedisclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown the digital signagedevice 104 and the integrated camera and sensor module 114. The digitalsignage device 104 and the camera and sensor module 114 may be asdescribed with respect to FIG. 1, for example. There is also shown inFIG. 3 an A/B testing 301 which may comprise testing for A/B content(two versions). There is also shown in FIG. 3 a multivariate testing 302which may comprise testing for content in a plurality of zones such as,for example, zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3.

Referring now to the A/B testing 301. In an example operation, when avisitor such as the visitor 110 is in front of the digital signagedevice 104 which is displaying a first version (version A) of theparticular advertisement, the camera and sensor module 114 may beoperable to capture and detect one or more actions of the visitor 110.The camera and sensor module 114 may be operable to generate, based onthe captured/detected action(s), action information associated with thevisitor 110 as described above with reference to FIG. 1. The testingmodule 212 in the computing device 102 may be operable to receive, fromthe camera and sensor module 114, the action information associated withthe visitor 110 who views the first version of the displayed particularadvertisement. The analysis module 206 in the computing device 102 maybe operable to analyze statistically the received action informationassociated with the first version of the particular advertisement andother received action information (according to other visitor(s))associated with the first version as well as associated with a secondversion (version B) of the particular advertisement. Based on a resultof the analysis of the action information, the testing module 212 may beoperable to determine a particular version among the first version andthe second version for display on the digital signage device 104 whenthe particular advertisement may be later scheduled to display.

Referring now to the multivariate testing 302. In an example embodiment,the screen of the digital signage device 104 may comprise, for example,three zones (zone 1, zone 2, zone 3). In such instances, there may be 27combinations to test (i.e., 27 versions). In an example operation, whena visitor such as the visitor 110 is in front of the digital signagedevice 104 which is displaying a first version (a first combination) ofthe particular advertisement, the camera and sensor module 114 may beoperable to capture and detect one or more actions of the visitor 110.The camera and sensor module 114 may be operable to generate, based onthe captured/detected action(s), action information associated with thevisitor 110 as described above with reference to FIG. 1. The testingmodule 212 in the computing device 102 may be operable to receive, fromthe camera and sensor module 114, the action information associated withthe visitor 110 who views the first version of the displayed particularadvertisement. The analysis module 206 in the computing device 102 maybe operable to analyze statistically the received action informationassociated with the first version of the particular advertisement andother received action information (according to other visitor(s))associated with the first version as well as associated with the otherversions (e.g., other 26 combinations) of the particular advertisement.Based on a result of the analysis of the action information, the testingmodule 212 may be operable to determine a particular version (e.g., aparticular combination) among the tested versions (e.g., 27combinations) for display on the digital signage device 104 when theparticular advertisement may be later scheduled to display.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for gesture-basedadvertisement bidding and display, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4, the example stepsstart at step 401. In step 402, the ad display module 202 in thecomputing device 102 may be operable to receive, from a camera andsensor module 114 in a digital signage device 104, characteristicinformation associated with a visitor 110 of the digital signage device104. In step 403, the received characteristic information may beanalyzed by the analysis module 206 in the computing device 102. In step404, based on a result of the analysis of the characteristicinformation, advertisement attributes may be determined by the addisplay module 202. In step 405, the ad display module 202 may beoperable to select, based on the determined advertisement attributes, aparticular advertisement from among a plurality of advertisement bids.In step 406, the ad display module 202 may then be operable to causedisplay of the selected particular advertisement on the digital signagedevice 104 for the visitor 110 to view. The example steps may proceed tothe end step 407.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for gesture-basedcontent transfer or transaction, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, the example stepsstart at step 501. In step 502, the content transfer module 214 in thecomputing device 102 may be operable to receive, from a camera andsensor module 114 in a digital signage device 104, particular gestureinformation associated with a mobile device 108 of a visitor 110 who mayrespond to a particular advertisement displayed on the digital signagedevice 104. In step 503, the content transfer module 214 may be operableto communicate, based on the received particular gesture information, toa cloud computing platform such as the cloud computing platform 131 forcausing the cloud computing platform 131 to obtain location informationand particular profile information associated with the mobile device108, from the mobile device 108. In step 504, the content transfermodule 214 may be operable to cause the cloud computing platform 131 topush, based on the obtained location information and the particularprofile information, content associated with the displayed particularadvertisement into the mobile device 108 for the visitor 110 to place anorder on the mobile device 108 or for the mobile device 108 toautomatically complete a transaction utilizing a particular applicationsuch as the application 118 running on the mobile device 108. Theexample steps may proceed to the end step 505.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for gesture-basedtesting on advertisement, in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6, the example steps start at step601. In step 602, the testing module 212 in the computing device 102 maybe operable to receive, from a camera and sensor module 114 in a digitalsignage device 104, action information associated with a visitor 110 whoviews a first version of the displayed particular advertisement. In step603, the analysis module 206 in the computing device 102 may be operableto analyze statistically the received action information associated withthe first version of the particular advertisement and other receivedaction information associated with the first version as well asassociated with one or more other versions of the particularadvertisement. In step 604, the testing module 212 may then be operableto determine, based on a result of the analysis of the actioninformation, a particular version among the first version and the one ormore other versions for display on the digital signage device 104 whenthe particular advertisement may be later scheduled to display. Theexample steps may proceed to the end step 605.

In various embodiments of the disclosure, a computing device 102 may beoperatively coupled to a digital signage device 104. An ad displaymodule 202 in the computing device 102 may be operable to receive, froma camera and sensor module 114 in the digital signage device,characteristic information associated with a visitor 110 of the digitalsignage device 104. The received characteristic information may beanalyzed by an analysis module 206 in the computing device 102, andbased on a result of the analysis of the characteristic information,advertisement attributes may be determined by the ad display module 202.The ad display module 202 may be operable to select, based on thedetermined advertisement attributes, a particular advertisement fromamong a plurality of advertisement bids. The ad display module 202 maythen be operable to cause display of the selected particularadvertisement on the digital signage device 104 for the visitor 110. Inthis regard, the characteristic information associated with the visitor110 may comprise, for example, one or more of the following: demographicinformation of the visitor 110, behavioral information of the visitor110, and location information of the visitor 110 in a field-of-viewcaptured by the camera and sensor module 114 in digital signage device104. The characteristic information may be generated by the camera andsensor module 114 utilizing, for example, a video analytics on videoimages captured by the camera and sensor module 114.

A content transfer module 214 in the computing device 102 may beoperable to receive, from the camera and sensor module 114 in thedigital signage device 104, particular gesture information associatedwith a mobile device 108 of the visitor 110 who may respond to thedisplayed particular advertisement. The content transfer module 214 maybe operable to communicate, based on the received particular gestureinformation, to a cloud computing platform 131 (in a communicationnetwork 130) for causing the cloud computing platform 131 to obtainlocation information and particular profile information associated withthe mobile device 108, from the mobile device 108. Based on the obtainedlocation information and the particular profile information, the cloudcomputing platform 131 may be operable to push content associated withthe displayed particular advertisement into the mobile device 108 forthe visitor 110 to place an order on the mobile device 108 or for themobile device 108 to automatically complete a transaction utilizing aparticular application 118 running on the mobile device 108. In thisregard, the gesture information associated with the mobile device 108may be generated by the camera and sensor module 114 in the digitalsignage device 104 utilizing a video analytics on video images capturedby the camera and sensor module 114. The gesture information associatedwith the mobile device 108 may comprise, for example, information on oneor more motion-based gestures inputted to the mobile device 108. In suchinstances, the mobile device 108 may detect the one or more motion-basedgestures utilizing an accelerometer 119 in the mobile device 108, andcommunicate, based on the detecting of the one or more motion-basedgestures, the location information and the particular profileinformation to the cloud computing platform 131, utilizing theparticular application 118 running on the mobile device 108.

The computing device 102 may be operable to perform testing, utilizing atesting module 212 in the computing device 102, on the particularadvertisement displayed on the digital signage device 104. In thisregard, the testing module 212 may be operable to receive, from thecamera and sensor module 114 in the digital signage device 104, actioninformation associated with the visitor 110 who views a first version ofthe displayed particular advertisement. The analysis module 206 in thecomputing device 102 may be operable to analyze statistically thereceived action information associated with the first version of theparticular advertisement and other received action informationassociated with the first version as well as associated with one or moreother versions of the particular advertisement. The testing module 212may then be operable to determine, based on a result of the analysis ofthe action information, a particular version among the first version andthe one or more other versions for display on the digital signage device104 when the particular advertisement may be later scheduled to display.In this regard, the action information which is statistically analyzedmay comprise one or more of audience impression, viewing time, viewerfacial gesture and viewer interaction. The action information may begenerated by the camera and sensor module 114 in the digital signagedevice 104 utilizing one or both of (1) a video analytics on videoimages captured by the camera and sensor module 114 and (2) a trackingon sensor information captured by the camera and sensor module 114.

Other embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer readable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitorymachine readable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, amachine code and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein forgesture-based cross channel commerce and marketing.

Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be realized inhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Thepresent disclosure may be realized in a centralized fashion in at leastone computer system or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

Aspects of the present disclosure may also be embedded in a computerprogram product, which comprises all the features enabling theimplementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded ina computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer programin the present context means any expression, in any language, code ornotation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular functioneither directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation ormaterial to the teachings of the present disclosure without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosurenot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that thepresent disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: in a computing deviceoperatively coupled to a digital signage device: receiving, from thedigital signage device, characteristic information associated with avisitor of the digital signage device; analyzing the receivedcharacteristic information; determining advertisement attributes basedon a result of the analysis of the characteristic information;selecting, based on the determined advertisement attributes, aparticular advertisement from among a plurality of advertisement bids;and causing display of the selected particular advertisement on thedigital signage device for the visitor.
 2. The method according to claim1, wherein the characteristic information associated with the visitorcomprises one or more of the following: demographic information of thevisitor; behavioral information of the visitor; and location informationof the visitor in a field-of-view captured by the digital signagedevice.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the characteristicinformation is generated by the digital signage device utilizing a videoanalytics on video images captured by the digital signage device.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising: receiving, from the digitalsignage device, particular gesture information associated with a mobiledevice of the visitor who responds to the displayed particularadvertisement; and communicating, based on the received particulargesture information, to a cloud computing platform for causing the cloudcomputing platform to: obtain location information and particularprofile information associated with the mobile device, from the mobiledevice; and based on the obtained location information and theparticular profile information, push content associated with thedisplayed particular advertisement into the mobile device for thevisitor to place an order on the mobile device or for the mobile deviceto automatically complete a transaction utilizing a particularapplication running on the mobile device.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein the gesture information associated with the mobiledevice is generated by the digital signage device utilizing a videoanalytics on video images captured by the digital signage device.
 6. Themethod according to claim 4, wherein the gesture information associatedwith the mobile device comprises information on one or more motion-basedgestures inputted to the mobile device.
 7. The method according to claim6, wherein the mobile device: detect the one or more motion-basedgestures utilizing an accelerometer in the mobile device; andcommunicate, based on the detecting of the one or more motion-basedgestures, the location information and the particular profileinformation to the cloud computing platform, utilizing the particularapplication running on the mobile device.
 8. The method according toclaim 1, comprising performing testing which comprises: receiving, fromthe digital signage device, action information associated with thevisitor who views a first version of the displayed particularadvertisement; analyzing statistically the received action informationassociated with the first version of the particular advertisement andother received action information associated with the first version aswell as associated with one or more other versions of the particularadvertisement; and determining, based on a result of the analysis of theaction information, a particular version among the first version and theone or more other versions for display on the digital signage devicewhen the particular advertisement is later scheduled to display.
 9. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein the action information which isstatistically analyzed comprises one or more of audience impression,viewing time, viewer facial gesture and viewer interaction.
 10. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein the action information is generatedby the digital signage device utilizing one or both of: a videoanalytics on video images captured by the digital signage device; and atracking on sensor information captured by the digital signage device.11. A system, comprising: a computing device operatively coupled to adigital signage device, wherein the computing device is operable to:receive, from the digital signage device, characteristic informationassociated with a visitor of the digital signage device; analyze thereceived characteristic information; determine advertisement attributesbased on a result of the analysis of the characteristic information;select, based on the determined advertisement attributes, a particularadvertisement from among a plurality of advertisement bids; and causedisplay of the selected particular advertisement on the digital signagedevice for the visitor.
 12. The system according to claim 11, whereinthe characteristic information associated with the visitor comprises oneor more of the following: demographic information of the visitor;behavioral information of the visitor; and location information of thevisitor in a field-of-view captured by the digital signage device. 13.The system according to claim 11, wherein the characteristic informationis generated by the digital signage device utilizing a video analyticson video images captured by the digital signage device.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the computing device is operable to:receive, from the digital signage device, particular gesture informationassociated with a mobile device of the visitor who responds to thedisplayed particular advertisement; and communicate, based on thereceived particular gesture information, to a cloud computing platformfor causing the cloud computing platform to: obtain location informationand particular profile information associated with the mobile device,from the mobile device; and based on the obtained location informationand the particular profile information, push content associated with thedisplayed particular advertisement into the mobile device for thevisitor to place an order on the mobile device or for the mobile deviceto automatically complete a transaction utilizing a particularapplication running on the mobile device.
 15. The system according toclaim 11, wherein the computing device is operable to perform testingwhich comprises: receiving, from the digital signage device, actioninformation associated with the visitor who views a first version of thedisplayed particular advertisement; analyzing statistically the receivedaction information associated with the first version of the particularadvertisement and other received action information associated with thefirst version as well as associated with one or more other versions ofthe particular advertisement; and determining, based on a result of theanalysis of the action information, a particular version among the firstversion and the one or more other versions for display on the digitalsignage device when the particular advertisement is later scheduled todisplay.
 16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having storedthereon, a computer program having at least one code section, the atleast one code section being executable by a computer for causing thecomputer to perform steps comprising: in a computing device operativelycoupled to a digital signage device: receiving, from the digital signagedevice, characteristic information associated with a visitor of thedigital signage device; analyzing the received characteristicinformation; determining advertisement attributes based on a result ofthe analysis of the characteristic information; selecting, based on thedetermined advertisement attributes, a particular advertisement fromamong a plurality of advertisement bids; and causing display of theselected particular advertisement on the digital signage device for thevisitor.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable media according toclaim 16, wherein the characteristic information associated with thevisitor comprises one or more of the following: demographic informationof the visitor; behavioral information of the visitor; and locationinformation of the visitor in a field-of-view captured by the digitalsignage device.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable media accordingto claim 16, wherein the characteristic information is generated by thedigital signage device utilizing a video analytics on video imagescaptured by the digital signage device.
 19. The non-transitory computerreadable media according to claim 16, wherein the at least one codesection comprises code for: receiving, from the digital signage device,particular gesture information associated with a mobile device of thevisitor who responds to the displayed particular advertisement; andcommunicating, based on the received particular gesture information, toa cloud computing platform for causing the cloud computing platform to:obtain location information and particular profile informationassociated with the mobile device, from the mobile device; and based onthe obtained location information and the particular profileinformation, push content associated with the displayed particularadvertisement into the mobile device for the visitor to place an orderon the mobile device or for the mobile device to automatically completea transaction utilizing a particular application running on the mobiledevice.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable media according toclaim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprises code forperforming testing which comprises: receiving, from the digital signagedevice, action information associated with the visitor who views a firstversion of the displayed particular advertisement; analyzingstatistically the received action information associated with the firstversion of the particular advertisement and other received actioninformation associated with the first version as well as associated withone or more other versions of the particular advertisement; anddetermining, based on a result of the analysis of the actioninformation, a particular version among the first version and the one ormore other versions for display on the digital signage device when theparticular advertisement is later scheduled to display.